American Expedition to Venus

[Thunderchicken]

I really like these Ray. 
I particularly like the white gloves, it 's a nice additional touch. They would not look out of place defending the American Embassy in our England invaded games either
Keep 'em coming.

All of that! It's rather tempting as I'm toying with the idea of a US force.

[Ray Rivers]

BTW - where did you get the flag from?

Got it from Warflag.com

I printed it on thin paper, slipped a normal sheet which was a couple mm's larger at the borders in-between, glued it all together and then painted the fringe (the normal paper which stuck out).  By doing it that way it also does away with the seam that you normally see running along the edges of the flag.  An excellent technique I learned (I believe) from LT Hazel.

[Bullshott]

All of that! It's rather tempting as I'm toying with the idea of a US force.

As a break from painting Frenchies, I decided to immediately paint up the MG and 1pdr gun plus crews to join the one unit of 10 marines I had already completed.  All figures now base coates and ready for detailing.

After that some more Frenchies, then on to the second unit of marines and some characters/specials - including the marine beach landing party from Tiger Miniatures. Then I will need to look at some appropriate VSF support elements.

[Bullshott]

I am using some of Tiger Miniatures' US troops to supplement my own force, several of which are in US Marines' dress uniform (tunic and peaked cap).

Does anyone know of any good links to pictures of Marines in dress uniform during the Spanish-American War? In particular, I have an officer figure in a braided jacket that I am unsure how to paint.

Dave

[Ray Rivers]

Does anyone know of any good links to pictures of Marines in dress uniform during the Spanish-American War? In particular, I have an officer figure in a braided jacket that I am unsure how to paint.

Dave

Check plate 793 for US Marines in dress uniform (including a braided jacket), midway down the page:

U.S. Army - ACW to present

[Dewbakuk]

Cool, we need Honolulu rifles! No idea what for, but look how cool they are with that flag 

[thejammedgatling]

Hi Ray!

Some great looking stuff being prepared for Venusian conquest! That website link for the uniforms is great. I am considering how to convert up some of the perry ACW stuff at the moment for a sizeable force.

Keep up the good work.

[Bullshott]

Check plate 793 for US Marines in dress uniform (including a braided jacket), midway down the page:

U.S. Army - ACW to present

Thanks for the link Ray. Thats a great site.

Its a pity that the pictures are small and rather poor definition, because I can't really determine the correct colour for the braid on the officer's tunic. Can anyone help me with this?

[Ray Rivers]

@ Bullshott

For some reason... artists always seem to portray black as some strange color when faced on dark blue uniforms...

USMC 1900 Uniform Regulations

UNDRESS

COATS

For Brigadier General, Commandant, and all line officers: A sack coat of dark-blue cloth; cut half close so as to define the figure, but to be sufficiently loose to allow the sword belt to be worn under the coat; skirt to be one and one-half inches shorter than the skirt of the full-dress coat; slits at the bottom of the side seams, the one on the right side to be six inches long from the bottom of the coat, and the one on the left side to be as high as the lower edge of the sword belt when worn under the coat; standing collar, one and one-half inches high; rounded ends, to hook in front at bottom. The edges of the collar, front, lower border, sleeves, side slits and back seams to be trimmed with black mohair braid, one inch wide, backed with black tracing braid, one-eighth of an inch wide. The trimming on the side slit at the left will extend no higher than that on the right side. The coat to be trimmed across the breast with black mohair braid, three-eighths of an inch wide and one-eighth of an inch thick, with black silk frogs, and black stuffed crocheted buttons, one inch in diameter. Sleeves to be trimmed in black mohair braid, backed with black tracing braid as now prescribed for sleeves of special full-dress coat, omitting the scarlet. The Corps device and insignia of rank one-half the size adopted for epaulettes, the rank device to be embroidered and backed with scarlet cloth, to be worn on each side of the collar, three-fourths of an inch apart, the insignia of rank being the nearer to the ends of the collar, and three-fourths of an inch therefrom. The flukes of the anchor of the Corps device to point toward the opening of the collar. The mohair braid and backing of tracing braid shall extend completely around the sleeves.

Hope that helps... 

@thejammedgatling

Yep... I have stacks of Foundry ACW troops.  So buying 30 or so redoubt Home Service Brits at a pound each, just for the heads... is actually not that bad cost wise.

[Tommy20]

So buying 30 or so redoubt Home Service Brits at a pound each, just for the heads... is actually not that bad cost wise.

I sent Empress Miniatures a note a while back suggesting they convert their head sprue into a HS helmet version.

http://www.empressminiatures.com/USERIMAGES/HEADS_01.JPG

They would be an instant hit with the VSF crowd.  No idea if they liked the idea...

[Malamute]

So buying 30 or so redoubt Home Service Brits at a pound each, just for the heads... is actually not that bad cost wise.

I sent Empress Miniatures a note a while back suggesting they convert their head sprue into a HS helmet version.

http://www.empressminiatures.com/USERIMAGES/HEADS_01.JPG

They would be an instant hit with the VSF crowd.  No idea if they liked the idea...

Very good idea Tommy. Lets hope they do it. Perhaps a few emails from other users will prompt them to?

[Ray Rivers]

I also bought some sprues of heads from Empress.

Unfortunately, they are kinda small, probably closer to true 25mm.  They are just a tad bigger than Perry's heads (unnoticeable really), but definately too small to use on Foundry figures.

[Gluteus Maximus]

I also bought some sprues of heads from Empress.

Unfortunately, they are kinda small, probably closer to true 25mm.  They are just a tad bigger than Perry's heads (unnoticeable really), but definately too small to use on Foundry figures.

Odd you should say that, Ray, as I'm half way through converting a unit of Foundry DA Belgians into British Colonial Police. This involves mostly an alternative paint-job, but with the addition of a couple of "glengarry" heads from Empress for a bit of variety. To my tired old eyes, at least, they look compatible with Mr Copplestone's figures. Slightly smaller, maybe, but they don't look wrong when swapped with the original heads.

I'll try and get them done ASAP and post a pic or two.

IMO, these heads are fantastic for adding variety in a unit, or creating a new one. I would have thought that "head sprues" would be a relatively easy and cheap addition to a range of figures, as the heads themselves have already been sculpted, new hats are easy to add and they can be sold to a wider market than the original figures. Then again, I'm not a figure manufacturer, so have probably got it completely wrong 

[Ray Rivers]

Look forward to the photos.

Don't know... to my eye they seem a bit small.  Perhaps it has to do with the range involved.  The ACW figures from Foundry are very stocky.

[Gluteus Maximus]

Look forward to the photos.

Don't know... to my eye they seem a bit small.  Perhaps it has to do with the range involved.  The ACW figures from Foundry are very stocky.

That could be it. Maybe they are by a different sculptor whose figures are a slightly different size to the DA range. My Redoubt ACW figures seem to fit in well with the one or two Foundrys I also have.

Anyway, I'll try and post ASAP. Probably only a bare lead version of the conversion, but I'll photograph him next to the original figure to get a decent comparison.